Reverse Archaeology
Experiments in Carving and Casting Space
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/jca.32392Keywords:
Collaboration, experimental archaeology and cultural geography, creative methods, marginal landscapes, ruins, materialityAbstract
This photo-essay draws from a three-year collaboration—Site_Seal_Gesture (2013–2016)—between archaeologist Lia Wei and geographer Rupert Griffiths. The initial point of departure was a reflection on the use of creative practice in our respective academic fields, and our shared interest in the relationship between time, materiality, and the human subject. This quickly developed into a shared discursive and artistic practice. Building blocks for a common language emerged through sketch dialogues and shared itineraries, which made connections between abandoned military defence architectures on the southeast coast of the UK and second-century rock-cut tombs in Southwest China. Speculative connections between past, present, and future were drawn out and deposited in models cast in plaster and life-size replicas carved in chalk or stone. Through the entwined actions of dwelling and making, the creative manipulation of archaeological materials constructs a unique tunnel between marginal landscapes and multiple temporalities.
References
DeSilvey, C. and T. Edensor. 2013. “Reckoning with Ruins.” Progress in Human Geography 37(4): 465-485. https://doi.org/10.1177/0309132512462271
Hamilakis, Y. 2011. “Archaeologies of the Senses.” In The Oxford Handbook on the Archaeology of Ritual and Religion, edited by T. Insoll, 208–225. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199232444.013.0016
Haudricourt, A.-G. 1987. La Technologie, Science Humaine: Recherches d’Histoire et d’Ethnologie des Techniques. Paris: Maison des Sciences de l’Homme.
Hawkins, H. 2013. For Creative Geographies: Geography, Visual Arts and the Making of Worlds. London and New York: Routledge.
Ingold, T. 2000. The Perception of the Environment: Essays on Livelihood, Dwelling and Skill. London and New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203466025
Giedion, S. and J. D. Berry. 1995. Building in France, Building in Iron, Building in Ferroconcrete. Santa Monica, CA: Getty Center for the History of Art and the Humanities.
Public Archaeology. 2015. Public Archaeology 2015. Available online: https://publicarchaeology2015.wordpress.com/
Renfrew, C. 2003. Figuring It Out: What Are We? Where Do We Come From? The Parallel Visions of Artists and Archaeologists. London: Thames and Hudson.
Virilio, P. 1975. Bunker Archéologie. Paris: Centre Georges Pompidou Centre de Creation Industrielle.
Wylie, J. 2002. “An Essay on Ascending Glastonbury Tor.” Geoforum 33 (4): 441–454. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0016-7185(02)00033-7
